William H.Seward was a famous lawyer and politician. He was born in New York, USA. He served as the United States Secretary of State between 1861 and 1869 and as Governor of New York between 1839 and 1842 .
In 1858 he delivered an important speech which was later known as "the irrepressible conflict" speech. During this oral presentation he adressed the slavery issue.
The so-called irrepressible confict was considered between the oposing forces and the enduring forces. This means the ones that support slavery and the ones that do not.
On slavery, Seward believed that a decision should be made urgently. He was in total opposition to the slave system. He described this as unfair,not human at all. Furthermore, he pointed at the irony that it made no sense having free states but on the other hand having slave states.